Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Shares Sold by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC trimmed its position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,634 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,878,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,690,000 after purchasing an additional 608,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,683,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,251,000 after purchasing an additional 880,372 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Fastenal by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,909,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,718,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,974,000 after purchasing an additional 226,126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, VP John Lewis Soderberg sold 488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $37,244.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,264.24. This represents a 72.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,289 shares of company stock worth $12,639,438 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC downgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.40.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $71.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company’s fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.